Tau (Warhammer 40,000) - Real-world History and Development

Real-world History and Development

The Tau, though a decade old, are a relatively new race to the Warhammer 40,000 game, having been first released in October 2001. Unlike most of the races in Warhammer 40,000, which were developed from a comparable race in Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Tau, along with the Tyranids, are the only playable races that do not possess an analogue in the Fantasy fictional universe, although most of the combat doctrines are based on the Wood Elves or Dwarfs.

The Tau's absolute dominant strength lies in their ranged firepower. Most Tau weaponry has an exceptionally long range, and as a result they are able to fire at and cripple an enemy army even before the opposition has a chance to return fire. One of the Tau's signature weapons remains the railgun, an incredibly powerful and long range heavy weapon that is more than capable of punching through even heavy armor at extreme ranges. While Tau military ideology focuses on ranged combat, they generally perceive close-range, physical combat as crude and unnecessary. The result is that most Tau forces, such as their mainstay infantry Tau Fire Team units, perform poorly in melee combat (both offensively and defensively). However this does not mean that their overall army has no chance in close combat, as Kroot mercenaries are available to give some melee strength to any Tau battle company. In addition, one of the Tau's unique commanders (O'Shovah, or, "Commander Farsight") is more than equipped for close combat.

The Warhammer 40,000 Design Team selected the Tau as one of three new race ideas from hundreds of possible concepts. The Kroot were one of the others, and these two were eventually combined into the one fictional organisation; the Kroot were later given their own army list written by Andy Hoare in the Chapter Approved 2002 publication. This list permitted the Kroot to be used as mercenary forces for a selection of other races or as a stand alone army.

According to Andy Chambers, the chief designer at the time, the Tau were intended "to be altruistic and idealistic, believing heartily in unification as the way forward." Graham McNeill was responsible for much of the background material produced for the Tau, developing what Andy Chambers described as "...their proud, quiet but determined character to the point where they actually became a rather likeable, if slightly naive addition to the cosmos."

This development was eventually seen as too disparate from the traditional dystopic atmosphere of the rest of the setting. The Tau were eventually modified to display the same altruistic overtones, but with a heavier Orwellian tone that implies that the Tau engage in mind-control and population replacement on worlds within their domain.